Age is But a Number
by little red after the wolf
Summary: AU In the Thropp family, you don't say "I love you." — bessa, frex/melena


Green and very obscene, Elphaba Thropp is a nightmare for Nanny. She's only three and she's very intelligent, though almost dead quiet. She's also frighteningly curious. Of everything. _Especially_ anything green.

Melena laughs and says it's because of her own greenness.

But Melena doesn't have to watch over Elphaba while she and Frex went Oz knows where on their date night. No, no, it's Nanny who has to stop the small child from screeching about nonsense when something falls over, Nanny who has to accept strange "gifts" from her, Nanny who has to brush her hair out while she grinds her teeth, Nanny who has to pry silverware from her green little fingers, not Melena.

"Elphaba, put that down!" She shrieks, rushing over to the small child and plucking the grass out of her hand. "Do you _want_ to get greener?"

Her only response is green lips pursed into a scowl and puffed out cheeks.

"Nanny is too old for this," she sighs.

* * *

Somehow, it gets even worse when Nessarose is born three months too early with tangled legs. Melena is in tears, holding her screaming baby as close to her as she can with Frex doing all he can to soothe her. No one pays any mind to little Elphaba. Not until she's jabbing at Nanny with her fingers and fighting to see her little sister.

"Mine!" She shouts, uncharacteristically loud for her.

The family (and Nanny) turn to her, surprised.

"I think she wants to see her little sister," Melena almost laughs, "isn't that right, Fabala?"

Elphaba nods her head frantically, holding out her tiny, green arms. "Mine," she repeats, much softer. Frex's eyes soften at his . . . Confusing daughter, and, with a sigh, he gently picks Nessarose out of her mother's arms and holds her down lower for the green child to see.

Quietly, the older Thropp examines Nessa, who stops crying at the sight of the girl. Her fingers go over the much too small babe's milky white flesh and reach her tangled little legs.

Frex isn't sure, he never is with Elphaba, but he thinks there's sadness in her eyes.

"It's okay, Fabala, you won't break her," Melena whispers.

Mutely, Elphaba looks up at this. There's hope in her dark eyes now, Frex knows that. Smiling a little, she nuzzles her nose against the small babe's, making her giggle. "Mine," Elphaba whispers, her smile widening.

"Introduce yourself, Faba," Melena laughs at the sight of her little girls.

Instinctively, Frex tightens his grip on Nessa. Melena shoots him an almost scolding look and shakes her head at him. "Yes," he chokes, "introduce yourself, Elph . . . Elphie."

"Papa?" She tilts her head, curiously before placing a little hand on his. She smiles again. It's the happiest he's ever seen her, now that he thinks about it.

"Introduce yourself to your sister, her name is Nessarose," Frex instructs.

"Nessa? Mine," the green girl nods quickly, "I'm your big sister, I'm Fabala."

Nanny feels something swelling in her chest and she thinks she's too old for this.

* * *

As much as she loves these children, Nanny thinks she's going to hit them if Elphaba says one more sarcastic thing or, even worse, Nessa keeps shouting "vroom vroom" when she pushes her chair.

"Elphaba is too much like you," she tells Melena one morning.

"Is that so?" Melena responds with a cocked eyebrow and hands on her hips.

"She's just as snarky as her mother, Nanny is going crazy from it," the elderly Animal snorts.

"Good," is the simple response. Nanny almost rips her hair out. Then Nessa is wailing about Elphaba taking her coloring book.

"Nanny! Nanny! Fabala took my book! Make her give it back!" The five year old sobs. Exasperated, Nanny stomps over to the green girl with an extended hand.

"Elphaba," she says simply.

"Nanny," responds the oldest daughter, smartly.

All the Animal can do to keep from screaming is slap her hands on her hips and glare at Elphaba. It doesn't persuade the small girl.

Nessa wails even louder at this. "Faba! Give it back! I was playing with it!"

"Nessie, I'm not done," the older girl chides as if she _hasn't_ snatched a coloring book from her crippled sister. Sometimes, Nanny understands why Frex is so confused by the girl. Always, she wishes she didn't. Understanding Elphaba would make her job so much easier.

It's at that moment that Nessa's green eyes start to water. Oh, Oz no. Oh, _Oz no._ These children will be the death of her, she realizes as she goes to her knees to soothe the handicapped girl. "It's okay, Rose, shh, shh, she'll give it back to you, Nanny promises," she whispers. Soon, with Nanny's help (and Elphaba ignoring it altogether), Nessarose's sobs are reduced to sniffles.

"Here!" Exclaims the other little girl, handing the coloring book over to Nessa.

Sniffling and pouting adorably, Nessa opens it up to return to her coloring. Her big sister has drawn her a picture of their family, holding hands and smiling in front of a rainbow on a little yellow path. "Faba!" She smiles widely at her big sister who shrugs softly.

She doesn't bother not yanking at her hair this time. "Nanny is too old for you two."

* * *

She makes the mistake of taking them to the park (where people gawk) one day.

"Vroom! Vroom! Faster, Nanny!" Nessa shouts, gleefully as the Animal pushes her along the sidewalk. Thankfully, Elphaba stays in the shade on their blanket with a book in hand. She doesn't much like trying to play with other children.

Or, well, they don't much like playing with her.

But Nanny is much too preoccupied with Nessa's shouts of "vroom vroom" and "faster" to particularly notice Elphaba's asocial behavior. She's half convinced the child is trying to kill her, in all honesty.

"Nanny cannot go that fast!" She pleads, her lungs threatening to burst.

"Then Faba can!"

This child is so spoiled, Nanny is probably too old for her.

* * *

Frex may spoil Nessa and read with Elphaba, but he is not particularly good at being alone with his daughters. Because of this, it is incredibly awkward as he sits with an eleven year old Elphaba and a seven and a half year old Nessa.

"So," the governor stiffly begins.

"So," Elphaba dryly snips back.

"I want apple juice," Nessa pouts. Frex is beginning to notice that she tends not to "ask" for things so much as state that she wants them. He thinks that will be a problem eventually but he just can't say no to Nessa and her little puppy dog eyes.

"You already had apple juice, Nessa," the green girl reminds her.

She pouts even harder.

Sighing, their father gets up to go get her some more. Elphaba shoots him a bleak glare much too like Melena's for him to disobey it. She smirks softly when he sits back down.

His oldest is too much like her mother. And his youngest is having a tantrum over apple juice.

He may love them both very much, but he's too old for this.

* * *

Nessa is eleven the first time boys become a problem. She's very, very pretty (tragically so) so it was to be expected, but Frex was not prepared this soon.

And neither was Nanny.

They met the boy on a trip into town. Nessa had begged to go the market with her (and dragged Elphaba along with them, of course).

She catches the boy staring at her, thinks he's staring at the chair.

"Oh, sorry, you're just really beautiful," he mumbles, scratching the back of his head through a red cap.

She turns bright pink and looks down. "Oh, thank you," she whispers, "you're," she gulps, "very handsome."

"Oh," it's his turn to blush, "thank you."

Elphaba peers out from behind a carton of milk she'd grabbed from the freezer section. _Is that . . . What did those idiots at school call it . . . Flirting? Nessie is flirting with a boy?_

"I'm Boq," the boy introduces himself to Nessa, holding out a hand.

"Boq, that's a nice name," she smiles shyly, "I'm Nessarose."

"You're the governor's daughter, aren't you?" Boq asks with wide eyes. Nessa nods, softly, unsure of what difference it makes. All she knows is that Boq has the kindest eyes and is half a head taller than her in her chair (unusually tall for a Munchkin child, she thinks). He fumbles to grab his hat and bow politely, "s-sorry for bothering you then, Miss Nessarose."

"Oh!" She exclaims in that small, high voice, "no, no, you haven't been a bother at all, Master Boq. I . . . I quite enjoyed talking to you," she gushes with a red face.

 _That's flirting, then, is it? Weird. I don't think I like seeing Nessie do it._

"You did?" His eyes light up.

"Quite a lot . . . It was wonderful," she smiles once more.

He smiles too. "I-I hope I see you around, Miss Nessarose," he says before running off to his parents.

"I do too," she whispers once he is gone.

"Nanny is too old for you but Nanny knows you are too young for him," Nanny says to a far off Nessa with a scowl.

* * *

Nanny suspects that Nessa is every bit as dry witted and sassy as Elphaba sometimes. Usually, she suspects this at parties or other events Frexspar hosts or takes his girls to.

Tonight, Nessa takes her sass a bit far.

"I'm surprised you could make it," comments a boy around her age, rather condescendingly. He's a prince, or something like that.

"Why? Didn't anyone tell you your palace was wheelchair accessible?" She replies, rather dryly.

"Ooh, feisty, are we?" He raises an eyebrow as his eyes drop to her chest. Though boys have been a problem for awhile now, none have yet done more than flirt with her and call her beautiful. Naturally, this prince glancing somewhere so scandalacious does not bode well with the Thropp girl.

"If that's what you call being out of someone's league, sure," she smiles sweetly.

His face turns red quickly. "Keep telling yourself that, crip," he snaps.

"Ah, yes, when intimidated by a girl having a sense of self-worth and confidence, insulting her is definitely the way to make her happy with you gawking at her chest," Nessa retorts, "if you don't mind, Master Aran, I'll go to talk with the grown ups now."

Her . . . "Commentary" on people continues like that for awhile. Frex finds himself rather off-put by innocent little Nessa being so alike to her sister and mother. Not only is it unlike her, it's also getting him even _more_ stares than usual. And, with one daughter bright green and the other in a wheelchair, being tended to by a Goat, as well as being the Governor of Munchkinland, Frexspar is very much used to getting plenty of stares.

"Oh, yes, of course, unelected officials who raise taxes to afford extra pools have life so difficult," she mumbles under her breath.

"That's it, Nessie," her big sister decides, "time out."

"What?" She blinks, unsure if she heard correctly.

"Time out," Elphaba repeats, coolly.

"Fabala, I'm eleven," she says, slowly, "aren't I a little old for this?"

"Yes," the green girl nods, taking Nessa's chair and shoving her off into a corner. "Now, you'll sit and stay until you learn to play nice again." And, with that, Elphaba turns off the breaks.

"Faba?" Asks the younger Thropp, wildly. No response. "Fabala!" She calls out, turning her head the best she can. "Ellie!" She tries again. "Elphaba!" She exclaims. "NANNY! ELPHABA IS BEING MEAN!" She howls, trying to reach the breaks on the back of her chair. "NANNY, HELP ME!"

Exasperated, Nanny bleats at the child. "You're too old to be in a time out, Rosey."

* * *

Elphaba excitedly pushes Nessa around Emerald City, running ahead of her mother and father and Nanny. "Fabala!" Wails the handicapped girl, "slow down! We'll hit someone!"

"Everything's green! Just like me!" Elphaba laughs, not listening to Nessa.

"Think about the lawsuits!" Nessa exclaims, holding on tightly to the armrests on her chair. She thinks she hears Melena giggling into her hand and Frex calling after them but Elphaba is ranting about how _everything_ is green and she can't hear over her.

"Melly, what if they really do run someone over?" Frex asks, paler and stiffer than usual.

"I leave you," she says, coolly.

He pales even more, though he knows his wife's sense of humor. His family is just a tad unnerving, if you ask him. He gets the feeling Nanny would agree with a bleat or two at the thought of the children who are growing up faster than they thought and the sarcastic quips of Elphaba and the occasional snarking of the usually calm, sweet Nessa.

"ELPHABA, STOP!" Screeches Nessa in the distance.

"They're really going to kill some poor soul," Nanny blanches, "one of you do something."

"FABA! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL _ME!_ "

The married couple exchange sighs and tired looks. "We're too old for this."

* * *

People are staring. They tend to do that when the Thropps are around. Melena and Frex have had to adjust to it, Nessa and Elphaba have been raised with it, and Nanny, well Nanny just kind of grumbles about it.

"Elphaba, slow down, you're going to leave Nanny behind," Nanny grunts, dragging Nessa's luggage with her.

"Let her be, Nanny, she's excited," Melena laughs softly. Nanny grumbles something incoherent but undoubtedly impolite.

Nessa smiles at her sister, walking up quickly. "Mine," she whispers, too quiet for them to hear. _You've come a long way, Faba, we both have._

Frex grips Melena's hand a little tighter as someone whispers something about Elphaba's complexion. "I don't like when they talk about her," he mutters, bitterly.

"Me neither, Frex, but she's a big girl now, we have to let her fight her own battles," Melena murmurs back with a reassuring squeeze.

"Speaking of," Nanny says with a small laugh. Elphaba is turning now, that fire in her eyes so like her mother's. She's not happy with the idiots staring at her and the few who back away in fear. Sure, she's too tall and she's, well, green, and the magic . . . But they shouldn't be scared of her.

"What are you looking at? Do I have something in my teeth? Let's get this over with, no, I did not eat grass as a child, -" Nanny almost laughs at the memories but instead grumbles about how that's only thanks to her "- no, it's not contagious, no I'm not seasick, yes, I've always been green," she snaps. Frex smiles softly at how like her mother she is.

"Elphaba," he chides, "don't make such a scene." She can see the affection in his eyes, no matter how he wags his finger disapprovingly.

She doesn't apologize.

"Now, be good, Fabala," Melena says, "you too, Nessarose."

"Yes, Mama," both girls chorus.

"Take care of your sister, Ellie," Melena whispers, trying not to let Nessa hear.

It doesn't work. "Mama, I don't Faba's help, I'm fourteen now," Nessa humphs, "but I do want it."

"And we all know that anything Nessie wants, she gets," Elphaba mocks bitterness. She doesn't bother to fight back the smile that tugs at her lips at Nessa's joke. _How many fights have we had about you being spoiled, Nessie?_

Frex smiles guiltily, "anything for my princess. You too, Elphaba." He squeezes Melena's hand in an attempt to reassure himself that it's okay, that tutoring Nessa was the right choice then and sending them off together is the right choice now. It doesn't work until Melena kisses his cheek.

Nanny blanches slightly, wrapping her arms around both girls.

"You too, you behave yourselves, especially you, Elphaba," she instructs them, "you make nice with the other kids and you make good with your classes, for Nanny. Nanny didn't go through all she did for you two to have you ruin it now."

"Yes, Nanny," they smile together.

"Nanny?" Nessa pipes up. The elderly Animal looks at her. "Vroom vroom." She almost pulls her hair out.

Shiz is going to be _wonderful._ Elphaba just _knows_ it will be, especially with her little sister at her side. Even if they haven't received their room assignments yet, she's going to be with her little sister. They're always together, always taking care of each other (even though Nessa isn't very good at taking care of people).

Nessa thinks she spies a flash of a red cap she swears she's seen before (at a market, she thinks). She tugs on Elphaba's sleeve. "Fabala, I think . . . I think I saw someone I know," she murmurs.

"I'll take you to them, I promise," the green girl smiles down at her sister.

Melena swoops forward and kisses her little girls' foreheads at this. She knows that smile. It's the same one from the day Nessa was born. "Be safe, my sweets," she whispers to her daughters, "and know that I love you. We all do."

"Yes, I love you both very much," Frex murmurs, rather awkwardly. He's never been very good at telling his daughters he loves them.

"So much that he bought you two presents for this," Nanny bleats, dabbing a hanky at her watery eyes.

Not even caring that she ruined the surprise, Frex pulls out the two boxes, one with a neat pink bow and one with a neat blue bow. "Open them, darlings," he pushes.

"Jeweled shoes!" Nessa exclaims upon opening hers, "oh, they're beautiful, Papa."

"Just like you, angel," he smiles.

"Papa . . ." whispers Elphaba, "this . . . This is from when Nessie was born . . ."

"Yes, Faba," he nods, "it's yours now."

"You're sure?" She asks, wide eyed and childlike once more.

"Of course you can have that photo," he laughs, "I love you both after all."

Clutching the frame tightly to her chest, Elphaba hugs her father. The photo is something she can barely remember, but she remembers the feeling. The warmth, the hope, the happiness, the sound of Nessa giggling. In it, she's nuzzling her nose to Nessa's as her mother laughs and her father gives the softest little smile, Nanny practically sobbing in her joy.

It's the first family photo she has ever received and she knows she will cherish it forever.

"Thank you," she whispers before retreating to her sister's side.

"I'm going to miss you all," Nessa says, sadly, "but I'm sure I'll - _we'll_ love Shiz."

"Oh, I know you will," Melena replies, kissing her daughter's forehead once more. "You will do good here, both of you." Nessa nuzzles her nose to her mother's, smiling softly.

"Mine," whispers Elphaba.

"Ours," corrects Nessa.

Nanny blanches. "You're too young to be leaving us."

* * *

 _reviews are love. give the thropps some._


End file.
